Fleur du Mal
by Rain Sky
Summary: The Daddy Challenge. OiSM-compliant. Voldemort is settling down and making a the sort of family that accepts only those with high credentials, turns away those who may do more harm to the cause than help, and features sibling rivalry up to 11. One-shot.


Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling and I do not own Harry Potter. This is "Only in Sweet Memories"-compliant. Characterisation is fair with information given in the fifth book; however, the story and characterisation may differ afterwards.

A/N: I must really feel stuck in OiSM... The problem I get is that I map out a really long story, but because I already know what happens, I feel less motivated to write... Anyway, this is just another scene that I refuse to awkwardly shoehorn into OiSM, but it really does belong there.

A/N: This is also Writing Challenge #37 – The Daddy Challenge from the forum Bellatrix Lestrange: The Dark Lord's Most Faithful.

_Fleur du Mal_

_August 1978_

She was cold and hardened and talented and so _eager_ to inflict pain. She embraced those ideals she had grown up learning – that pureblood wizards were better than the other sort, and Muggles were savages who forced wizards into hiding. She was a doll who had always lived in a gilded cage; she had never worked a day in her life. This girl stood resolutely before him, the greatest wizard of all time, demanding to serve him.

Bellatrix Lestrange, they called her. She had been married the summer before, almost as soon as she had turned fifteen. _That woman_ had forbidden him from seeking out the scions of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. But little Bellatrix had willingly come to him. She had asked to be accepted into his service, as the representative of the House of Black, in place of her sisters – one had a young child and the other was with child – and her cousins who would presumably soon be married and with children themselves.

His Death Eaters leered at her, but she didn't flinch. Many of them had only been a year or two above her in school. Alecto Carrow had been most unhappy at the prospect of Bellatrix joining. Her Occlumency skills were also pitiably non-existent; she was fuming at the idea of "yet another Black sister" stealing her thunder. He made a mental reminder not to accept any more schoolgirls who thought serving the Dark Lord was like a secondary school clique.

He scorned her dismissively. "Go back and finish school, little girl."

Many of the Death Eaters taunted her and laughed derisively – most of it was mere sycophancy. In fact, if they did not have their masks on, he really doubted any of them save for Alecto would have mocked Bellatrix to her face. Alecto chortled sincerely as she flipped the long wavy chestnut-brown hair she was so proud of.

"I am finished with school, my Lord." She was unyielding, undeterred.

He cupped one hand under her chin and lifted her gaze to meet his. "How old are you, little Bellatrix?"

"Sixteen, my Lord."

"See, here we run into a little problem. Even if you are gifted and finished with school, you will have the Ministry on us wherever we go. You are useless until the Trace has been lifted."

He dropped his hand and turned away from her.

"I can do other things," Bellatrix argued. "If you'll permit me to join you via Side-Along Apparition, I'll show you I don't need a wand to inflict pain."

_That woman_ hissed her displeasure that Bellatrix was still pleading her case using the skills _she_ had taught her in order to survive.

The Dark Lord would have sighed if he were a lesser wizard. He knew Bellatrix's primary incentive to join was not out of loyalty to him or even to uphold her family's ideals. She realised that her life was not a fairy tale, and now she wanted to lash out at anyone and everyone. She blamed Muggles; if they did not exist, she could have lived happily ever after. And so she wanted to become a Death Eater – because her goals happened to align with his.

He wished she would just go away, but she had grown up getting everything she ever wanted (except for her choice in bridegrooms). It was tempting; in one year's time, this gifted mage would be allowed to use her talents with reckless abandon. If he passed on her, there was no possibility she would join that fool Dumbledore, but when would he next have the chance to acquire such rare talent? _That woman_ trained her, and Bellatrix was so much more than a powerful witch. She was a warrior.

"I will think about it."

Those words appeared to appease Bellatrix, and she stood down.

_That woman_ punched straight through a partition wall, and Bellatrix did not meet her eyes as she moved to her left. _She_ grabbed Bellatrix's arm and the two Disapparated.

Alecto looked outraged but she held her tongue. Hadn't she done everything she possibly could to outshine Narcissa Black? How dare that Bellatrix get in her way now? Her thoughts were so loud that even the worst Legilimens could read them as if they were printed on a hoarding. Her own elder brother inched away from her.

"Now, Rodolphus, Rabastan... you two are acceptable as is. You will be branded tonight."

The two men were mildly inclined to join up. The idea of Muggle-hunting appealed to them as after-work sport. Otherwise, they were clearly bullied into coming along by the young girl who wasn't old enough to do magic. They were still malleable, though, and the Dark Lord was certain they would grow to become fanatical followers in their own right.

That was how it worked. They joined, they served. If they were valuable, they may find themselves protected by the Dark Lord one day – if it was at his convenience. If they weren't, they were punished most severely by the Dark Lord – again, when it was convenient. It made perfect sense, and those who joined the family understood what was expected of them.

_Flower of Evil, scattering beautifully_

_With vivid iridescence_

_Ever after the people say_

_Ah, she was truly the daughter of evil_

A/N: '_That woman_' refers to Dianthe, an OC who is somewhat prominent in "Only in Sweet Memories". The paternal relationship I am trying to highlight here is not the biological one between Voldemort and Dianthe, but rather the master/servant one between Voldemort and his Death Eaters. I think Voldemort was also a better father to Bellatrix than her biological father was, but that's not saying a whole lot.

A/N: The last paragraph is the last stanza of Mothy's song "Daughter of Evil". The translation is my own, but I am not Mothy and I do not own the song.


End file.
